Photo Every Day 2025

Today was a great day.

One year ago Piper made it to the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Cross Country meet. It felt like a pretty big deal. She is such a hard worker (she has been running and / or walking at least a 5k every single day since May 1, 2020). We were so excited for her to make it to the state meet, and we had big hopes for her big run. Unfortunately, that day did not turn out the way she had hoped. She had one of the worst runs of her entire season, and came across the finish line with a face full of tears.

It was hard to watch.

As a dad, I so badly wanted her to do well. I didn’t care what place she finished in, I just wanted to see her do well and feel good about her run. That didn’t happen. She was crushed.

But this year was a completely different story.

This year Piper lined up with the 200+ other runners, and she ran like we knew that she could. She ran so well!

The first potential obstacle of this race was at the beginning. Once the gun goes off, and the ladies are off to the races, it is about a 150 yard sprint to the first corner. The first corner is pretty tight… about 10-12 feet wide. If you get cut out of the group you want to be running in at that first corner, it is hard to make up for lost time.

Piper made it to that first corner in perfect position!

After seeing her at that first corner, I ran to another part of the race course, which was right around 1.5 miles into the 3.1 mile run. Last year when I saw her at this part of the race, she was already emotionally and mentally struggling. I could see on her face that her hopes were being crushed, and it was taking everything within her to just keep going. The race was not going well.

This year, she came through the 1.5 mile marker looking strong! She looked confident. She was doing amazing.

I cheered for her and then ran back to that first corner, waiting for her to come through that area again. I think she may have lost a few positions since the first time I saw her there, but she was still going strong. I cheered as she ran by and then ran to the finish line to wait and see how this incredible run would end.

Last year Piper turned the last corner, entering the finish line chute, and completely fell apart. I think I watched 20 runners pass her in that final 100 yards as she slowed and sobbed and did everything she could to just muscle herself across the finish line.

This year, I watched Piper being Piper. She wasn’t slowing. She wasn’t sobbing. She was laser-focused on the finish line. She kicked into another gear and passed three very strong runners in that final stretch, finishing 39th over-all, which is an “All-Ohio” finish!

Last year Piper came across the finish line, made her way to the exit, and collapsed into my arms. This year she was all smiles. I LOVE to see it!